Mir had only one issue with the movie. Krennic didn't feel that well developed to me. Also, he fell into line with the Marvel (Also House of mouse) villains of late of being underdeveloped, weak, and fairly inept in plan.

But besides that, I thought it was very well done, and the cameos/callbacks were exceptional. There's a reference to ANH in there that's not even in the movie ANH but in the kid's picture storybook that my older brother had when we were kids. I've read that so many times growing up and it's got this great mistake in it, which is coincidentally why I remembered the reference so well.

The Good:
It harkens back to the gritty days of the original trilogy. The characters are likable, and the cameos, while some of them felt a bit "Forced" (ha, ha, get it?... I'll see myself out.....), were still well done.

The Bad:
No John Williams. But I looked into it, and it was John's decision, not Disney's, and he just needed a break. So, understandable. And it wasn't a bad soundtrack, by any means. Also, the lack of an opening crawl was kind of disappointing, but I got over it. I didn't much appreciate them making the location tags, though.

The Ugly:
We had to sit in the second row, so our viewing experience kind of sucked. We'll try again later in another viewing, but the circumstances weren't that great for us.

So, that's my shortened review. I'll go more in depth at another time, if I care to. Overall, however, despite the ugly, we enjoyed it.

Short review: It's really, really good. Go see it if you haven't already.

Very Minor-ish Spoilers Ahead...

I loved it, and I really wanted to hate it because I feel like we're headed for franchise burn-out with Disney's ambitious Star Wars movie release schedule. I don't want Star Wars to end up like the Pirates franchise in that no one really cares that a new one is coming out. Also, I'm a fan of Kyle Katarn and the original story for how the Death Star plans were obtained. I know all that was thrown out after Disney bought it, but they've been bringing back other parts of the older canon, so I hoped for at least a cameo...

Damn it though, Disney did an awesome job with Rogue One and I can't be mad at it.

The effects were great. I thought Tarkin was done really well and Guy Henry did an excellent job mimicking Peter Cushing's voice and cadences. Hard to say how much of that was him, and how much was post-production, but I'll give him credit until I know otherwise. Also, that's Alan Tudyk as K-2SO! I had no idea until I saw his name in the credits. That's awesome. I didn't like the other CGI'd cameo we got at the end though. I don't think it looked as good.

The battles were great. It was awesome seeing so many classic starships and vehicles brought to life again in new ways. Also some of the nods to the EU they threw in there. The action was top notch too. I was worried about that, since Gareth Edwards has a bad habit of cutting away from the action just as it's getting good (see Godzilla 2014, which he also directed). It seems he's finally learned his lesson, or Disney had someone advising him, because I felt like the action was well-paced this time around. The Vader scene was incredible.

I agree with Mir in that Krennic was a pretty shallow villain. That's not necessarily a bad thing, not all villains need to be deep to be effective, but Krennic was also arrogant to the point of incompetence, and that was kind of disappointing to me. In fact incompetence was a problem with most of the Imperials in this movie aside from Tarkin and Vader. The stormtroopers were particularly bad, even the death troopers - which felt like a bit of a let down. That's actually nothing new in a Star Wars movie, so they're all minor quibbles, but I noticed it just the same.

I'll also say that I didn't expect that ending. I know now why people were saying it's a darker Star Wars film. It really makes me wonder how dark it was before the reshoots.

In summary, I'm going to see it again at my nearest opportunity. Also, don't waste your time with a 3D showing. It's nothing special. My friend and I chose a 3D showing because it had better seats for us to reserve and it was only worth it for the seats.

Lastly, after seeing how well they did Rogue One, I'm starting to get hyped for the Han Solo movie.

When life gives you lemons, you clone those lemons and make super lemons!

Pryde wrote:I don't feel like Krennic was meant to be the movie's villain. Like at the outset it sure seems that way but let's face it. Of all the Imperials who were in the movie who killed the most people?

Krennick was definitely underdeveloped but the movie overall was amazing. I loved how well they tied everything together and how you can throw ANH on your TV right afterward and pick up probably less than a day after Rogue One ends. The cameo's were awesome (Red 5 had to go, which was simply amazing) and well done. They weren't overused or even abused but simply well thought out and very tastefully implemented to make you go "oh wow, that's pretty cool." Those guys would have all been on this mission so yeah, they should be apart of it because they're attacking the Death Star in about three days.

The movie as a whole did a great job. The love story was unneeded and Saw or whatever his name was...well...weird. That brain reading creature was unnecessary but those flaws don't detract from the movie. Even the harkening back to suddenly, twenty years later, the Jedi are this thing only spoken of in back tables of bars type deals showed just how much they were actually well known and allowed you to see that they weren't just this 'peacekeeping force' but also an integral part of the galaxy at one point.

Death Troopers, definitely probably some sort of clone. That's what they immediately made me think of. The stormtroopers reminded me of the normal run of the mill soldier (dudes talking about the new T-65 when walking through the jungle? That's regular soldier talk right there when you are bored on patrol) and that was great. The Death Troopers definitely tied me to those other Star Wars movies and made me think of the clones efficiency wise.

Overall, great movie. I love how it all tied together and even was upset that Bail was headed to Alderaan because...ya know...BOOM.

Well, I wasn't going to say it, Mir, but yeah. If I had to point at a character in the movie and say this is the villain, one hundred percent then that is whom I would choose. Krennic, in my mind, was just a villain, not the villain.

Except that Krennic was marketed as the villain. There was very little mention of Tarkin. It's mainly Krennic in the trailers as the villain, very little Tarkin showing. The God of Death, aka Vader, barely shows up in the trailers as well. Walking into the movie, Krennic is the villain. That might change over the course of the film, but it doesn't justify not developing Krennic. We don't really understand his motives, except for a vague "bring peace to the Empire" conversation he has in the beginning with Galen, and his repeated attempts to ensure that he gets credit for the weapon, which makes it seem that he cares more about advancing his career than in bringing peace to the Empire. They knew going in that they were going to make Tarkin the real main villain, so they didn't develop Krennic that much, but that doesn't make the decision right.

I didn't go into the movie looking at it like it needs a villian. The Death Star was the villian to a degree, or the Empire. But I saw this movie more as a "this is how the rebellion got the plans" type deal.

There didn't necessarily need to be a "bad guy." We know the Empire is bad. I look at this movie more like a thriller you see for the second time. It still gets your blood pumping BUT you know the ending. Did Krennick disappoint? Sure but it didn't break tnt movie. It was awesome for what it was.

Vox wrote:I didn't go into the movie looking at it like it needs a villian. The Death Star was the villian to a degree, or the Empire. But I saw this movie more as a "this is how the rebellion got the plans" type deal.

There didn't necessarily need to be a "bad guy." We know the Empire is bad. I look at this movie more like a thriller you see for the second time. It still gets your blood pumping BUT you know the ending. Did Krennick disappoint? Sure but it didn't break tnt movie. It was awesome for what it was.

Agreed. I just didn't like that they positioned Krennic as the villain but then were like nope.

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo Baggins
From madness comes wisdom, and from wisdom comes power.
"I'm convinced you're secretly a British Spy" - Mir

Loved it. Tarkin was a closely hidden surprise. They didn't want it leaking who was playing the voice and the body with the completely CGI face (which was well done).

The nods to ANH was very well done and then the line "We've all done horrible things for the rebellion." Really put somethings into perspective. The droid was great with it's deadpan responses. I wish they had explained a little more about Jeddah on why it is so important.

Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang were just amazing. Donnie's character to be low level Force sensitive and Wen being completely awesome was a just written well. While Donnie was fighting the storm troopers I was saying to myself, "Look George, that is how you do a fight scene with a Jedi!!" Doing some research, I found that there were guardians of the temple of "Whilles" (Wills) but since the empire came through, they couldn't guard the temple anymore officially. Small things for me here, there is a push now to announce that their character were gay and were in a relationship/married. 1. Don't see why it is relevant and 2. I guess two guys can't be friends and go through battles together without being considered gay. It is just something that irked me by fans but oh well.

If you are a fan of the Clone Wars cartoons, then you know who Saw was and why his approach was the way it was. Also, the mind reading squid things is something the Rebellion wouldn't have done because it breaks the person mentally and leaves them broken. So Saw took things into his own hands and the ends suddenly started to justify the means which the Rebellion didn't want.

Vader, vaded and it was awesome. To see him for full crazy at the end brought a smile to my face.

Anyone, need to to watch it a couple more times to really nail some things down.

“This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted.”
-C.S. Lewis
"But generally, Shaggy is right." - JagtaiDaer'Gunn Wiki

So I saw it for the second time last night in Imax. I agree with Hal, the 3D’s rubbish but the big screen was awesome! I actually managed to spot the Ghost from Rebels twice this time!

Minor Spoilers – (Star – go see it anyway, it’s worth it)

Knowing what to expect this time, I found Tarkin and Leia less of a distraction. I noticed more about the characters, how right at the start Cassian finds his tipping point, how Jyn’s not necessarily doing what she’s doing because she believes in the Rebellion but because that’s what her father wanted, how Baze and Chirrut are perhaps looking for a purpose now they’re not Temple Guardians anymore. I loved how Saw is basically totally insane, how he’s turning into Vader in many respects, and perhaps he finally sees that and that’s why he decides to do what he does.

You don’t get massive characters arcs or a development but more of a snapshot of these peoples’ lives, and because it’s a snapshot and not a massive epic I can be a lot more forgiving of the characters compared to other films.

I also love the fact it adds so much richness to the universe. I always describe Star Wars as a playground, and while TFA was stingy with giving us new toys, we get a plethora of them. New locations, new star ships ships, a new class of droid, two types of stormtrooper, and a ton of weapons and vehicles.

I finally saw it a couple days ago (because family was in town to babysit). Some spoilers follow in my staccato-style stream-of-consciousness mini-review.

As for me, I didn't need spoilers. I predicted the ending weeks before it came out. I mean, I don't know why anyone was surprised. It's basically the Alamo, or the Titanic (as far as predictable plots--far better as far as films go). (1) They must get the Death Star plans, and (2) none of these characters show up in the films that follow. All of these characters would be heroes of the Rebellion if they were still alive. The joys in this film are the call-backs and the journey, not the destination.

(I also wasn't surprised by Tarkin; I had heard somewhere they were getting the RotS actor for Tarkin again--which obviously they didn't, so that was erroneous--but it also just makes sense. How can you have the Death Star leading right into Episode IV without its commander?)

In a lot of ways, elements of the film were designed to answer obvious plot holes in Episodes IV and V. "Why was there such an obvious flaw that no one noticed?" and, "I guess Luke was lucky Red 5 was available when he showed up," and, "Why did they rename Red squadron to Rogue squadron?" Things like that.

I didn't see the Ghost, but I did hear an intercom request for "General Syndulla."

Both of Vader's scenes were great, but the second one obviously was effing spectacular. It's what we (the fans) have always wanted to see of Vader, and what we have always been denied (until now).

The writing blew Lucas' work out of the water, but that wasn't a very high bar. I'd need to see it again to decide if it really was fantastic writing, or just so far above regular Star Wars screenplays that it felt fantastic. ("Do not choke on your aspirations!") Certainly, the introduction of gray areas to the Rebellion was welcome; ultimately, the branding of "terrorists" is more believable through Rogue One than it ever was in the original trilogy. (I mean, yes, the populace can be snowed by propaganda, but there comes a point of obvious ridicule when one side is so clearly evil and the other so clearly good.) The comedy in the film was refreshing rather than jarring, too.

I agree with my brother; it's impossible to over-sell this movie to friends who haven't seen it yet. No matter how much you say it's great, they can't set their expectations too high going into it.

I want to see it two or three more times to catch all the references, but I won't be able to see it again in theaters. I'll let other people decide on how good the 3D was; generally, I find 3D pointless and distracting, so I didn't like it as much (though my brother insisted we see it that way). My brain is constantly trying to change my point of view when I see things in 3D, and it breaks my immersion rather than improving it. I notice too easily that I'm watching two dimensions in a false third dimension.

I also knew Alan Tudyk was in it going into it; I follow him on social media, so I saw it coming for a long time. His work was exemplary as always. Chirrut Imwe was definitely my favorite character, followed closely by K2-SO. The only part of the ending I didn't like was that we'll never see these characters all together again (though we might very well see some of them here or there in their own stories in books, comics, or TV shows, which I would welcome heartily.)

To compare it to Episode VII, as one of my friends phrased it, "J. J. Abrams asked what Star Wars could do for him; Gareth Edwards asked what he could do for Star Wars."

Finally saw Rogue One, and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable, for the reasons mentioned by others.

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo Baggins
From madness comes wisdom, and from wisdom comes power.
"I'm convinced you're secretly a British Spy" - Mir